New 1860 Army

[Big D]

Hey yall. I have a chance to get a NIB ASM 1860 Army, 200 LRB, complete with a flask, nipples, capper, powder measure for $250 to my door. What are the difference btw the ASM and the Uberti/Pietta? From the pictures, it looks just like an Uberti. It has deep, beautiful color case hardening, and rich blueing. I know little to nothing about ASM. Also, what replacement nipple size would they take?

 

[HexHead]

Hey yall. I have a chance to get a NIB ASM 1860 Army, 200 LRB, complete with a flask, nipples, capper, powder measure for $250 to my door. What are the difference btw the ASM and the Uberti/Pietta?

You can get parts for the Uberti and Pietta made guns. That said, that's a nice looking gun.

 

[Tommygunn]

The first 1860 I owned was an Armi San Marco. That one looks like it has a nicer finish .... possibly made earlier than the one I had.
Does it have safety pins on the heel of the cylinder in between the nipples? The one I had didn't, and that was one difference. I also thought the machining of the gun was somewhat cruder on the ASM. I was going to say that ASM used the short 1851 type grip on theirs but yours looks to be the long one -- that isn't inaccurate as some early originals had the short grips.
Uberti was generally considered better than Pietta but recent Piettas seem to be much better made. There's a German brand named Centaure --IIRC-- that is considered "the cream of the cream" if you can obtain one.
ASM no longer exists. Later versions of their guns IMHO are inferior and were made of softer metals than Uberti or Pietta. But, OTOH I've also seen early ASMs that were every bit as good as the Ubertis. Seems ASM's quality suuffered as the company spun down.
Yours does look nice so maybe it is an early one.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

ASM had some of the best looking Case Hardened Color.
ASM had some top quality stuff, but then reportedly quality went down hill badly at the end with some of their pieces as stated.
If you have a chance to handle it in person and it looks good don't hesitate.
Since it sounds like you will have to have it shipped there is a bit more risk than with some other manufactures but I think the ASM's tend to be undervalued.
$250 for the package you describe sounds fair and the pics look nice.

 

[Prairie Dawg]

Nipple Cross-Reference.
I got this from Thunder Ridge before they went out of business.
http://www.dakotaskipper.net/ebay/nips.html

According to this chart, Treso 11-50-16

Treso sez these are:
11-50-16 -- M5.5 x .9 New Italian Revolver Nipple

11-50-166 -- M5.5 x .9 -- New Italian Revolver Nipple 6 Pack

Here's a link to a Treso prices list of all their products:
http://www.tresollc.com/Treso_2013-Retail-Price-List.pdf

--Dawg

 

[Crawdad1]

Hey ah Big D, I thought you were in the market for a 51' Navy?

 

[Big D]

Well I was until I stumbled across this beauty, lol. Besides, gotta have another .44 to pair up with my Uberti '58 haha! So, should I bite on that ASM '60?

 

[avatarshots]

The "German" Colt is actually a Belgian Colt. They are the finest 1860's made, and are in reality the TRUE 2nd generation Colts. I just listed a basically NEW one in the buy/sell forum. It had been in a gun shop for 49 years, and when the shop changed hands some years ago, the new owners didn't know what they had.
For more info on these fine guns go to:

http://www.1960nma.org/index.html

Only 16,000 were made. Mine is number 4908!
There's a picture on my post.

 

[Crawdad1]

I don't blame ya, that is one beautiful 1860!!!! And at a great price.

 

[Hellgate]

You might want to check Cabela's and see if they have any sales going. $250 for a used ASM is sort of fair. Their QC was spotty. I've owned 8 ASM 44 Colts. Still have 3. The one's I got rid of didn't shoot straight. At the time 1993 the Piettas were crap too. Actually worse. My best ASM is a Hartford model 1860 Army and has been flawless. The 44 "Navies", well, 2 out of 5 ain't too bad. They we're $99 each from Red Head and one had a chip out of the crown and the rest had rust in the barrels 'cause no one bothered to clean them after the proof shot. I kept the best of the 5 that I ordered. FRee return policy. ASMs use the same nipples as Uberti: 12X28 I believe.

 

[avatarshots]

You get what you pay for. Target was shot from 25 yards with a Belgian Colt 1860

 

[Big D]

Well, I guess I missed out of that beautiful 1860! As I logged onto gunbroker this am to purchase it, someone else had already snagged it! Damn the luck lol. Sheesh....all this 1860 porn I've been looking at has really made me want one......even more so the 1851 lol.

 

[avatarshots]

You can still get mine if you want top of the line

 

[Big D]

I would if I had $600 bucks to spend! lol

 

[Big D]

Well I missed out on the pictured 1860 Army in my first post, so I broke down and just ordered an Uberti 1860 from DGW for about $70 bucks more......gotta have another .44 to match my Uberti 1858!!!